Experimental and numerical investigation of groundwater head losses on and nearby short intersections between disc-shaped fractures

Discrete fracture models are used for investigating precise processes of groundwater flow in fractured rocks,while a disc-shaped parallel-plates model for a single fracture is more reasonable and efficient for computational treatments.The flow velocity has a large spatial differentiation which is more likely to produce non-linear flow and additional head losses on and nearby intersections in such shaped fractures,therefore it is necessary to understand and quantify them.In this study,both laboratory experiments and numerical simulations were performed to investigate the total head loss on and nearby the intersections as well as the local head loss exactly on the intersections,which were not usually paid sufficient attention or even ignored.The investigation results show that these two losses account for 29.17%-84.97%and 0-73.57%of the entire total head loss in a fracture,respectively.As a result,they should be necessarily considered for groundwater modeling in fractured rocks.Furthermore,both head losses become larger when aperture and flow rate increase and intersection length decreases.Particularly,the ratios of these two head losses to the entire total head loss in a fracture could be well statistically explained by power regression equations with variables of aperture,intersection length,and flow rates,both of which achieved high coefficients of determination.It could be feasible through this type of study to provide a way on how to adjust the groundwater head from those obtained by numerical simulations based on the traditional linear flow model.Finally,it is practicable and effective to implement the investigation approach combining laboratory experiments with numerical simulations for quantifying the head losses on and nearby the intersections between disc-shaped fractures.

Cross influence of discharge and circulation on head loss of conduit of pump system with low head

The relationship between the head loss and the discharge and circulation of the conduit of a pump system with low head is an important problem with an obvious influence on the improvement of its hydraulic performance. The velocity circulation from the pump guide vane makes the relationship more complicated, which has to be understood comprehensively. The results indicate that, under the condition of zero circulation, the head loss of the inlet and outlet conduits is in proportion to the square of discharge. Under the condition that the Reynolds number is satisfied with the resistant square area, the conduit loss is in proportion to the square of discharge for the similar working points with different speeds in a certain rotational speed range, indicating that the pump system efficiency is constant. The outlet conduit loss of design discharge for a pump system with low head depends on the velocity circulation from the guide vane exit, and the relationship between the loss and the circulation is an open curve with an upward direction, meaning that there is an optimal circulation for the loss. Under the condition of various working points for a pump system with low head, the head loss of the outlet conduit is under the cross influence of both the discharge and the circulation. As a result, the relationship between the head loss and the discharge is almost linear, and the mechanism needs to be further studied.

Evaluation of “C” Values to Head Loss and Water Pressure Due to Pipe Aging: Case Study of Uni-Central Sarawak

Samarahan has transformed from a small village into education hub for the past 2 decades. Rapid development and population growth had led to speedy growth in water demand. The situation is getting worse as the pipes are deteriorating due to pipe aging. Therefore, there is a need to study the adequacy of water supply and relationships among roughness coefficient (C) values in Hazen Williams’ Equation with head loss and water pressure due to pipe aging at Uni-Central, a residential area located at Samarahan Sarawak. Investigations were carried out with Ductile Iron, Abestos Cement and Cast Iron pipes at age categories of 0 - 10 years, 10 - 30 years, 30 - 50 years, 50 - 70 years and >70 years. Six critical nodes named as A, B, C, D, E and F were identified to study the water pressure and head loss. Model was developed with InfoWorks Water Supply (WS) Pro software. The impact of pipe aging and materials to water pressure and head loss was not significant at Nodes A, B, C and F. However, max water pressure at Nodes D and F were only reaching 6.30 m and 7.30 m, respectively for all investigations. Therefore, some improvement works are required. Results also show that Asbestos Cement pipe has the least impact on the head loss and water pressure, followed by Ductile Iron pipe and lastly Cast Iron pipe. Simulation results also revealed that older pipes have higher roughness coefficients, indicated with lower “C” values, thus increase the head loss and reduce the water pressure. In contrast, as “C” values increased, head loss will be reduced and water pressure will be increased.

A Value Engineering Analysis of Head Loss in Pumping Mains

With net zero carbon emissions targets approaching over the next 20 to 30 years, the water industry must act now to develop energy efficient techniques and designs to reduce emissions and reduce the carbon footprint of water utility providers. There is also the potential for significant energy and therefore financial savings to be realised from the adoption of more energy efficient designs approaches. Water utility providers account for a significant proportion of national electricity consumption. The purpose of this research is to determine if, over the long term, opting for a larger diameter pipe at design stage can lead to significant financial and emissions savings for water utility providers when considering pumping mains. Pumping mains are widely used throughout the water and wastewater industry where a gravity solution is not possible. 72 hypothetical water main design scenarios were analysed and the long term financial and environmental impact of each hypothetical water main was assessed. It was found across all design scenarios that larger diameter water mains were capable of delivering the same rate of flow of smaller diameter pipes at a much reduced velocity and requiring reduced pumping power. It was concluded that pumped mains of larger diameters can ultimately be more energy efficient and cost effective over the long term when selected in favour of smaller diameter pumped mains in otherwise identical design scenarios.

NUMERICAL PREDICTION OF AIRCRAFT HYDRAULIC SYSTEM BASED ON THERMAL DYNAMIC ANALYSIS

A mathematical model of principal elements of the aircraft hydraulic system is presented based on the heat transfer theory. The dynamic heat transfer process of the hydraulic oil and the pump shells within an aircraft hydraulic system are analyzed by the difference method. A kind of means for the prediction to variational trends of the aircraft hydraulic system temperature is provided during operation. The numerical prediction and simulation under the operational conditions are presented for ground trial running and the decelerated operation in flight. Computational results show that there is a good coincidence between the experimental data and the numerical predictions.

Temperature Field Analysis of Mine Flameproof Outer Rotor Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor with Different Cooling Schemes

Aiming at the problem of temperature rise of mine flameproof outer rotor permanent magnet synchronous motor,based on the fluid structure coupling method,the temperature distribution of motor under three cooling schemes of air cooling and water cooling are calculated respectively.For the structure I air cooling system,the influence of different number of heat sink on the maximum temperature rise and pressure drop of fluid channel is analyzed,and the parameters of heat sink are optimized.For the structure II air cooling system,the influence of setting fillet at the turn back of the fluid channel on the head loss in the fluid domain of the motor is analyzed,and the influence of different fillet radius on the head loss and the maximum temperature rise in the fluid domain is obtained.For the structure II water cooling system,the influence of different water flow speed on the maximum temperature rise of the motor is analyzed,and the influence of different assembly clearance of modular stator teeth and yoke on the maximum temperature rise of the motor is analyzed.The cooling effect and temperature rise distribution characteristics of the three cooling schemes are compared and analyzed.Finally,a water-cooled prototype is manufactured,and the temperature rise experiment is carried out,and the influence of the thermal deformation of fluid channel,stator yoke and stator teeth on the maximum temperature of the motor is analyzed.The results show that the calculated temperature field after considering the thermal deformation is closer to the experimental value,which verifies the accuracy of the calculation results,It also provides a reference for the selection and design of the cooling structure of the same type of PMSM electric roller.

Numerical Investigation of Turbulent Flow through Rectangular and Biconvex Shaped Trash Racks

Turbulent flow through a trash rack of bars of rectangular and biconvex shapes is considered. A trash rack is composed of an array of bars fitted into a hydro-electric power station to prevent debris and fish to enter the waterway towards the turbine. The work is directed towards modeling a large number of bars for which the flow turn out to have a periodic structure. It is here shown that this case can be simplified with the flow past a single bar together with periodic boundary conditions. Using this approach the head loss is derived for different angles of attack α and blockages P for two shapes of the rack, a rectangular bar and an aerodynamically shaped biconvex bar. It is found that overall loss of the biconvex bars is in general about 15% of the loss for the rectangular case for small angles of attack. For large angle of attack this difference diminishes. Of interest for the biconvex bars is also a local minimum in the head loss for angles approximately greater than 20°and for a blockage P around 0.35. This combination of parameters gives a low loss together with an efficient barrier for debris and fishes.

Experimental Study on Aero Conductivity of Porous Media

To study the variation pattern of aero conductivity of different porous media under low pressure conditions, three kinds of media are selected. These include sandy clay loam, fine sand, and medium sand, and air us fluid to conduct soil column ventilation tests. Pressure at both ends of the colruns is measured under different ventilation flow rates during testing. The test results show that the aero conductivity, solved by Darcy＇s law, is not a coustant. It is a variable, which increases first when air flow velocity is less than 0. 258 7 cm/s for sandy clay loam, 0. 637 3 cm/s for fine sand and then decreases when air flow velocity is bigger than that with the increase of the ventilation flow rate when the medium is determined. By analyzing various factors that influence the flow resistance, the reasons for variation in aero conductivity are found us follows： first, the change of pore structure results in better ventilation; second, the relatiouship hetwcen pressure head loss and air flow velocity is nonlinear, and it is beyond the condition of the Iminar flow domain to which Darcy＇ s law can he applied, when the air flow rate increases to a certain value and the flow velocity is in the transition range to turbulent flow.

Determination of ice jam thickness—A new approach

In winter,rivers in cold regions often experience flood disasters resulted from ice jams or ice dams.Investigations of the variation of ice jam thickness and water level during an ice jammed period are not only a practical need for ice prevention to avoid disaster and plan water resource,but also essential for the development of any mathematical model for predicting the evolution of ice jam.So far,some equations based on the energy equation have been proposed to describe the relationship between ice jam thickness and water level.However,in the derivation of these equations,the local head loss coefficient at the ice jam head and the riverbed slope factor were neglected.Obviously,those reported equations cannot be used to preciously describe the flow energy equation with ice jams and accurately calculate the ice jam thickness and water level.In the present study,a more comprehensive theoretical model for hydraulic calculation of ice jam thickness has been derived by considering important and essential factors including riverbed slope and local head loss coefficient at the ice jam head.Furthermore,based on the data collected from laboratory experiments of ice jam accumulation,the local head loss coefficient at the ice jam head has been calculated,and the empirical equation for calculating the local head loss coefficient has been established by considering flow Froude number and the ratio of ice discharge to flow discharge.The results of this study not only provide a new reference for calculating ice jam thickness and water level,but also present a theoretical basis for accurate CFD simulation of ice jams.

Flow characteristics in open channels with aquatic rigid vegetation

In order to study the flow characteristics in water bodies with rigid aquatic vegetation,series of laboratory experiments are carried out in an open channel,in which glass rods are used as plants with diameters of 6mm,8mm and 10mm,respectively.For each diameter of glass rods,four typical cases are considered with various densities and arrangements of glass rods.The flow velocities in the four cases are measured by the 3-D laser Doppler velocimeter(LDV).The water surface slope,the flow velocity,the water head loss,the vegetation drag force and the hydraulic slope are calculated,analyzed and discussed.The horizontal,vertical and total vegetation densities in the vegetation area are defined and the relationship between these physical parameters and the water surface slope are studied.The head loss and the hydraulic slope in the vegetation area are also calculated,compared and analyzed.It is indicated that the water surface slope and velocity,the head loss and the hydraulic slope in the vegetation area have a close relationship with the arrangement,the density,and the plant diameter of the vegetation.

Three-dimensional numerical simulation of flow in trapezoidal cutthroat flumes based on FLOW-3D

To solve the common problem of flumes flowmeasurement accuracy without sacrificing water head, a new type of trapezoidal cutthroat flume to measure the discharge in terminal trapezoidal channels is presented.Using the computational fluid dynamic method, threedimensional flow fields in trapezoidal cutthroat flumes were simulated using the RNG k-ε three-dimensional turbulence model along with the Tru VOF technique.Simulations were performed for 12 working conditions,with discharges up to 0.075 m3$s–1 to determine hydraulic performance. Experimental data for the trapezoidal cutthroat flume in terminal trapezoidal channel were also obtained to validate the simulation results. Velocity distribution of the flume obtained from simulation analyses were compared with observed results based on timeaveraged flow field and comparison yielded a solid agreement between results from the two methods, with relative error below 10%. The results indicated that the Froude number and the longitudinal average velocity increased along the convergence section and decreased in the divergent section. In the upper throat, the Froude number was less than 0.5, which meets the water measurement requirement, and the critical flow appeared near the throat section. The maximum water head loss of the trapezoidal cutthroat flume was less than 9% of the total head, compared to the rectangular cutthroat flume,and head loss of trapezoidal cutthroat flume was significantly less. Regression models developed for upstream depth versus discharge under different working conditions were satisfactory, with a relative error of less than 2.06%, which meets the common requirements of flow measurement in irrigation areas. It was concluded that trapezoidal cutthroat flumes can improve flow-measurement accuracy without sacrificing water head.

Effect of Defectors on the Flow Characteristics of a Square Pipe with a 90 Bend

Pipe fow is a classic hydrodynamic issue.Most pipelines contain bends,and bends cause energy loss and distort the flow because of secondary flow.Deflectors are often used to adjust the flow quality in a bend.Inthis study,a numerical simulatiou using ANSYS Eluent 19.0 is used to analvze the effects of the deflector number.location and angle on the flow characteristics of a square pipe with a 90°bend.The velocity non-uniformity and the head loss are analyzed quantitatively.The secondary flow is presented visually,and its evolution characteristics are assessed.An optimized installation scheme for the deflectors is discussed,and a reference is provided for controlling the fow quality in bends via deflectors.

Oxygen transfer characteristics of water and bubble mixture pipe flow through two sudden contractions and expansions

The dissolved oxygen （DO） concentration is an important index of water quality. This paper studies the dissolved oxygen recovery of the water and bubble mixture pipe flow through two sudden contractions and expansions. A 3-D computational fluid dy- namics model is established to simulate the water and bubble mixture flow with a DO transport model. An experiment is conducted to validate the mathematical model. The mathematical model is used to evaluate the effect of geometric parameters on the head loss coefficient, the relative saturation coefficient and the oxygen absorption efficiency. It is found that the contraction ratio is a signi- ficant influencing factor, other than the relative length and the relative distance. Given the same relative length and relative distance, the head loss coefficient, the relative saturation coefficient and the oxygen absorption efficiency increase with the decrease of the contraction ratio, respectively. Given the same relative length and contraction ratio, the head loss coefficient increases with the in- crease of the relative distance firstly, and then decreases gradually, in contrast, the relative saturation coefficient and the oxygen ab- sorption efficiency decrease with the increase of the relative distance firstly, and then increase gradually, the relative saturation coefficient and the oxygen absorption efficiency are inversely proportional to the head loss coefficient, respectively.